News

Class Action Lawsuit – Parity of Wages and Benefits for H-1B and U.S. Workers

A recent class action lawsuit serves as a reminder that employment policies for H-1B workers must comply not only with Federal immigration laws, but also state and local labor rules. On November 9, 2015, Accenture PLC, a global professional services company, became the defendant in a class action lawsuit filed in New York State. The [...]

By |2015-12-01T12:55:05-05:00November 30th, 2015|Compliance, Employers, H-1B, Human Resources, News|

New California Law Authorizes Hefty Fines for Improper Use of E-Verify

On October 9th 2015, California Governor Jerry Brown approved Assembly Bill No. 622 (AB 622). AB 622 is intended to prevent employment discrimination effected through improper use of the federal E-Verify system – the mostly voluntary online program allowing registered employers to check the employment authorization of new employees. AB 622 does not mandate or [...]

By |2015-11-23T12:07:18-05:00November 23rd, 2015|Compliance, E-Verify, Employers, Human Resources, News|

The Automatic Visa Revalidation Program Allows Travel to Contiguous Territories Without Needing a Visa Stamp

Foreign nationals who are in the U.S. on a nonimmigrant status are aware (we hope) that normally they need to have a valid U.S. visa stamp in order to reenter the U.S. after a trip [...]

By |2017-05-20T21:47:08-04:00November 11th, 2015|Articles, News, Students, Travel, Visa Processing|

December 2015 Visa Bulletin – Filing Cutoff Dates Remain Unchanged; Very Gradual Movement in the Approval Dates

The U.S. State Department has just released the December 2015 Visa Bulletin which is the third Visa Bulletin for the new FY2016 fiscal year. The major headline in the upcoming month’s Visa Bulletin [...]

By |2017-05-20T21:47:08-04:00November 9th, 2015|AOS, DOS, I-485, News, News Alert, Visa Bulletin|

US Elections – How Can Foreign Nationals Be Involved in the Political Process?

As we are about to get into the peak of the U.S. election season, some of the U.S. presidential candidates have expressed opinions on immigration, in connection with the campaign, or previously, and it is natural for some foreign citizens, both living in the U.S. and abroad, to be interested in contributing money and/or services [...]

By |2017-05-20T21:47:08-04:00October 24th, 2015|Articles, News|

Proposed STEM OPT Rule Expands Scope and Validity; Adds Employer Requirements

Many employers and F-1 STEM students have been anxiously expecting a draft of the proposed STEM OPT extension rule which had to be rushed as a result of the August 2015 District Court decision invalidating the existing 2008 STEM [...]

By |2017-05-20T21:47:08-04:00October 19th, 2015|Articles, F-1, News, News Alert, Students|

USCIS to Start Monthly Determination on Filing Date Eligibility for I-485

The last few weeks have brought a lot of attention to the way the Visa Bulletin cutoff dates are allocated and how USCIS uses the dates to accept I-485 filings.   Starting with the initial version of the October 2015 Visa Bulletin in early September, and throughout the subsequent October 2015 Visa Bulletin revision and litigation, [...]

By |2017-05-20T21:47:08-04:00October 15th, 2015|Articles, I-485, News, News Alert, Visa Bulletin|

November 2015 Visa Bulletin – Filing Cutoff Dates Remain Unchanged; Very Gradual Movement in the Approval Dates

The U.S. State Department has just released the November 2015 Visa Bulletin which is the second Visa Bulletin for the new FY2016 fiscal year.   The major headline in the upcoming month’s Visa Bulletin is the lack of any movement whatsoever in the Filing cutoff dates section of the Visa Bulletin, possibly caused by the October [...]

By |2017-05-20T21:47:09-04:00October 9th, 2015|Articles, DOS, EB-2, I-485, News, News Alert, Visa Bulletin|

Public Law 111-230 Sunset Means Lower H-1B Filing Fees for Certain Employers

September 30, 2015 was the last day on which the additional filing fee required to be paid by certain H-1B dependent employers was required.     The Public Law 111-230 additional filing fee of $2,000 was required to be paid [...]

By |2017-05-20T21:47:09-04:00October 4th, 2015|Articles, Employers, Fees, H-1B, News, USCIS|

Happy New (Fiscal) Year – Immigration Implications of the New Government Fiscal Year

While few, if any, of our clients and readers will be planning major celebrations, October 1st is an important date as it marks the beginning of the new government fiscal year.     This has some immigration implications for many folks — for example, H-1B cap petitions are becoming effective and the quotas for green [...]

By |2017-05-20T21:47:09-04:00September 30th, 2015|Articles, News, USCIS|

Consultation Options

We offer a number of engagement and consultation options. Initial case evaluations and quotes are always free.

Live Chats and Webinars

We provide many opportunities for clients and readers to learn about new developments, ask questions or simply comment. Join us for our weekly live chat or our monthly (or more often) webinars.

Contact and Quote Forms

Go to Top